2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee: jerking or lurching

Filed Sep 9, 2023 · Seats · AL

On the way home from work the Active Head Restraint deployed without there being a rear end collison. The head restraint on driver's side hit my wife in the back of the head and sounded like a loud and startling gunshot-like sound. Since I was on the highway if I had not kept from jerking the steering wheel when the head restraint deployed i could have been in a head on collison. I was able to pull off the road to see what happened. First I called my dealer and they said it wasn't going to be covered under warranty and also call fiat-chrsyler and they said that it wasn't covered. No warning lamps, messages and no other symptoms shown prior to the failure. The dealer did acknowledge verbally that they had had 3 or more other cases. Currently it is at the dealer being repaired and i will ask them to give me the old head restraint.

Filed Apr 21, 2021 · Electrical · 100,000 miles · LA

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 jeep grand cherokee. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle jerked and stalled while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact discovered that her VIN was included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 19v813000 (electrical system). Lakeshore chrysler dodge jeep ram fiat (330 e howze beach rd, slidell, la 70461) and rainbow chrysler dodge jeep llc (301 river highland blvd, covington, la 70433) were contacted and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

Filed Jan 4, 2021 · Transmission · 135,000 miles · FL

Initially brought my jeep into shop due to jerky movement at slows speeds while trying to turn or backing up and then "service 4wd" light coming on. Was informed that the transfer case control module and shift motor were bad. When I picked up the jeep everything seemed to be working fine. Less than 3months later, and approx. 5,000 miles, "service 4wd" light came back on and seems to be stuck in 4 low. Had car towed to same shop, in case one of the previous parts went bad, and was informed that the transfer case needs to be replaced now. Looking into the error, it seems this is another "known problem" with jeep along with the rocker arm issue I previously had on this jeep. As both of these issues are safety related since the vehicle could stall or shut down while driving, I believe there should be a recall on both issues. Especially since both of these repairs are very expensive!

Filed Sep 5, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 80,000 miles · NV

Vehicle does not start as it should consistently. Vehicle has an inconsistent delay in moving forward after stopping at a red light and will have a jerk/jumping feeling in the transmission after the delay/stall from moving forward. This has been an ongoing issue since december 2019 when I initially took the vehicle to get looked at and the dealership states they do not have parts to fix the issue as of september 2020!

Filed Jul 13, 2020 · 120,000 miles · VA

My transfer case needs to be replaced, it jerks when I break and hit my gas, I can barley turn my vehicle without the whole car shaking. The dealership told me it would cost $4k to fix, the part is back ordered, there's 4 cars before me getting the same problem fixed. There's over 150k people who have complained about the same thing. They told me if I drive my car it would cause it to shut down and then it wouldn't be fixable. But jeep refuses to fix the problem when they know this is their fault. On top of that, my fuel relay is recalled with no solution and my jeep could turn off on me at any moment. They told the transfer case is not recalled because not enough people have complained about it. They are aware of the issue and refuse to fix it.

Filed Jun 22, 2020 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · IL

In the rear, there is a popping noise while turning or taking off from a dead stop at a light it pops real loud and causes the vehicle to jerk. I have taken this to multiple places and no one can figure it out. What is going to happen is that the transmission or something going to break and cause a major accident.

Filed May 26, 2020 · Seats · 105,000 miles · NV · 1 injury

Today I was sitting in a parking lot when my head was jerked forward after the headrest was deployed while stationary. I called the dealership in st. George, ut and they instructed me to contact chrysler to file a claim. I did call them today and was given a claim number. Now I wait while the headrest sits deployed in my jeep.

Filed Jun 25, 2019 · Electrical · 88,500 miles · NE

Vehicle was started and transmission placed in drive, then driven onto a city street accompanied by an unusual whining noise, lurching, and impaired acceleration. Vehicle was limped into a parking lot, placed in park and shut off again, after which it would no longer crank. Vehicle was towed to dealership where initially the starter was replaced. After starting the vehicle, the technician reported sparks and a strong burning smell from the alternator, which he declared unsafe to drive. The alternator was then replaced, after which the powertrain control module or PCM was also found to have failed and was replaced. The primary cause of the problem here is unclear, but the safety concern stems from the shorting alternator making the vehicle unsafe to drive. It seems likely that had the driver been unable to immediately pull over, the vehicle could have caught fire and/or completely shut down in traffic. As other, similar vehicles from this manufacturer have been recalled for weak alternator diodes failing catastrophically (p60 / the federal safety agency 14v‑634), it seems reasonable to investigate whether this hazard exists in this and other similar vehicles also.

Filed Apr 3, 2019 · Transmission · 96,000 miles · IL

Transfer case actuator causes the vehicle to jump in and out of 4 wheel drive causes grinding noises and jerking. Which therefore causes a hazard on the road.

Filed Mar 16, 2018 · Transmission · 93,000 miles · NC

After recently purchasing my jeep grand cherokee 2013, I noticed issues I didn't have in regards to the power train and how it acted compared to my previous jeep grand cherokee 2002. I frequently have instances at slow, medium and interstate speeds where the rpms jump from the steady 2,000 up to like 3,000 briefly, before quickly dropping back down. This results in and unexpected and sundown jolt/jerk. Even more so, I've been seeing more serious and related issues where it runs at 3,500/4,000 rpms while not accelerating. Seems slow and sluggish. Only a stop and restarting of the vehicle will fix this issue. Finally, this leads to the major issue, still related to the same trend of problems. I will have times when I'm accelerating or just cruising and I lose control of the vehicle. The rpms will spike drastically and unexpectedly from around 2,000 average to 6k-7k rpms. I lose all acceleration control when this happens. The few times this has happened the engine light will turn on. Naturally letting off the accelerator brings it back down slowly, but in these instances I'm on the road and moving with traffic. I lose all accelerator control and cannot accelerate with any effect. The engine revs sharply and loudly with no accelerating movement or response. Only option is to break.. Thanksfully those work.. And come to a stop where shutting the car on and off seems to be the only temporary fix. Upon turning it back on, the engine light will remain and typically does for a day or so and then turns off. Very dangerous and seems to be an ongoing, while unpredictable and infrequent, but not completely as this happens every week and a half or so,.. It sounds like a manufacturers defect that isn't being addresss through recalls, repairs or even when complaints are made. These issues need to be addressed as they pose a threat to not only my safety, but others as well.

Filed Sep 8, 2017 · Brakes, Transmission · 75,000 miles · MA

When pulling out of driveway, foot brake was applied but accelerator revved up and car lurched forward into traffic..barely avoided an accident. This is a serious safety issue. Contacted original dealer who said this was not a recall item and was dismissive. I requested that my complaint be put on file.

Filed Apr 7, 2017 · Electrical, Transmission · 35,118 miles · FL

Alternator failed at 35118 mi. Had in repair twice for issues when driving. Loud whine, burning smell and smoke reported. First time dealer keep car for overnight and said they could find no issue even though they had smelled the burning smell too. Second time they told me it was my alternator. They replaced the alternator, I picked up the car, drove 2 miles and the battery light came on. I returned immediately and they kept the car for 3 more days. The failed alternator had "arced" to the power train, and then that had to be replace too (that under warranty thank goodness). But alternator was replaced for $1000 out of my pocket even though very low mileage because was over 3 yr warranty period. In researching how could this have happened so early, I found that the 160 alternators from the same period had been recalled, but the 180's are not (at least not yet....I am hoping to help initiate another recall since I see online that others who have this model and year and 180 alternator have had same issues as me). I was encouraged by fca customer care to file a petition for reimbursement, and have just heard from them that they have declined it since my VIN isn't included in the recall. To be specific about the episodes, I was driving both times that this occurred. Both times I had just started to drive and the car made a loud whining noise that lasted for a bit, and increased on acceleration, and quickly I could smell something like burning rubber and see smoke. I was afraid the car was going to stop suddenly because it started to be jerky, and when I came to stop light it seemed like it was going to stall. But it kept going, and I drove straight to the dealer both times.